Calipers



Nov. 12, 1957 G, E, ACHBACH 2,812,582

l cALIPERs Filed Nov. 26, 1954 ORANGE 112425420415094 98| SIZES 9 5 7 zaas 26 2o a5 E iff-'9. 1

INVENTORY Y M7/L M United States Patent o i i This invention relates to'calipers and more-particularly to citrus measuring calipers-.f

When citrusafruits are-p ic-lned-4 they.'aref-readiedfor-v mar-ketdelivery byfplacingtherein-crates.v However, the The 2 producer hasfound that hecany demand af' higher price for his-larger fruit 4 ascompared lto"smallercitrus fruit.v Byy sepa-rating fruits generallyarefof variousi sizes.

the fruits int'oyvariou's grade sizes and selling-them accord-y ingtotheirfsize, theproducer-s--average price will be higher' than theaverage price/of` mixed citrus-fruits ungraded y It is* therefore anUobject of.L this-2 invention-l to provide an'economical methodofsizing'thefcitrus-fruit-by setting.`

screening. apparatus' for.-v th'e particular `sizedesired.- Furthermore,thea calipers maybe: usedby ypurchasers-when buying the fruit, either onthe tree or after being pioked,

to thereby determine the value of the fruit.

It is another object ofrthis-inventiontoprovide a pair of calipersmounted on a support member having indicia thereon, whichindiciakcooperatesflwitlt tlief caliper setting soas to-'indicate thenumber of a particular citrus? fruit which williillastandard crate.

Itis istillanother object of this invention to provide a pairoftcalip'erscapable of settinggthe spacing in'ascreening mechanism for aparticular size citrus fruit, and having indicia thereon for giving thenumber of said citrus fruit for a standard crate.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide calipersadapted to measure the size of a citrus fruit and give the number of aparticular citrus fruit per crate as shown by the indicia placedthereon, the support for the calipers having means thereon so as topermit the caliper legs to pivot out of position in order that noprotruding members or sharp edges are exposed.

It is a specific object of this invention to provide calipers having asupport member provided with an inch scale and a plurality of otherscales, the various dimensions on the inch scale lining up with variousindicia on the other scales, so as to give the number of a particularsize of citrus necessary to till a standard size crate as measured onthe inch scale, the support member having caliper legs mountedVthereon-adapted to pivot or slide, and the support and legs beingprovided with means for releasably locking the legs'in operativeposition.

These land other objects will become more apparent when read in thelight ofthe accompanying drawing and speciiication; wherein the partsare designated by specific names but are intended to be as generic intheir application as the prior art will permit; and wherein the sameparts have the same numbers in the various figures.

Other objects and advantages reside in the construction of parts, thecombination thereof and the mode of operation, as will become moreapparent from the following description.

ln the drawings, Figure l is a plan view showing t e caliper legs inoperative position.

Figure 2 is a plan view showing the caliper legs in inoperativeposition.

'reading down 'in the indicia scale.

the'caliper leg 14"^is1set on the-four-inchfscale, as' shown'y by:the-dotted line of thecaliper leg14, the nurnberof.l orangesitoV fill:aT standard sizefcrate' would be about'83, thefappr'oximatemidpointbetween 70 and 96'orangesfperi ICC Figure- 3 is ai cross:sectional viewkv taken substantially on theline 3;-3 of Figure l.

Inlgeneral, a slotted-support member is--provided..which` has-severalrows of indicia placed thereon; Arpair ofv caliper legs are positionedyon'the support membenone of 1 whichis movable in the slotwith respectto" the other. Anf inch scale isalso-provided on the support-member'for:

positioning the caliper legs for a desired size of citrus fruits Byreading down' from the positionv of-the'movable caliper leg "to theindicia; thenumberof a'eparticular citrus fruit is ascertained for astandardl size crate. The legs of -the'- calipers are arranged-in'such amanner so astoebeeasily.

pivoted out of operative position for easy carrying-.ory

port member contains an aperturellSvat-oneend and a3 longitudinal slot20.V On the other` sideY of said aperture an'additional slot 24 isformedin the support' member 12. The base support member isvprovided with twoinchv scales 2-2 onei'ther side thereof as is best shownv Severalfsetsof additional indicia 23' arel These indicia lare in Figure l. shown onthe 'slotted support member. related' to the inch scale insucha'mannerso as to givev the number ofcitrus fruit fora standard size crate.Forexample; three types of citrus fruits are indicated; orange,

tangerine-and grapefruit.` By, positioning the caliper leg14toa-desirablesiz'e; .the' number of that sizefofv fruit Aforfilling;ya standard sizeV crate can beY readily obtained by.

crate;

The conventional sizeof cratesused for packing tangerinesris-smal-lerthan is-'usually usedl for:l oranges. If;

for example, the calipers are adjusted so as to have the leading edge ofmember 14 register with the 21/2" scale on the calipers, it may readilybe seen that there will be 176 tangerines. In the Ievent the calipersare used to measure grapefruit, the lower scale on the lower section, asviewed in Figure 1, would then be used to determine the size of thegrapefruit. l

The caliper leg 16 is pivotally mounted in the support member 12. Eachcaliper leg has an aperture therein so that a bolt 26 or the like can bepassed through the leg and the support member 12. A knurled tighteningnut 28 is threaded on the end of the bolt 26 with a Belleville springWasher 30 positioned between the knurled nut 28 rand the support member12. The spring washer 30` exerts a tension force on the bolt and nut atall times. The caliper legs are each provided with stamped protuberances32 on either side of the aperture and extend outside of the plane of thecaliper legs themselves.

It is noted that the caliper leg 14`is made in the same manner and issupported in the same manner as the caliper leg 16, with one exception;the caliper leg 14 is slidably mounted in the slot 20.

By pressing on the knurled nut 28, the caliper legs are free to bepivoted out of the normal operative position which would beperpendicular to the length of the slotted support member 12. When it isdesirable to place the calipers in operative position, the legs arepivoted outward from the support member to a point perpendicular theretoand the caliper legs will snap into position with the protuberancesfitting into the slots 20 and 24.

Therefore, applicant has provided novel citrus fruit calipers which arevery compact, in that the legs can be pivoted out of the operativeposition, thereby making it.

Ptented- Nov. 12,-,195-7'- For example; if

very easy to carry in ones pocket or the like. Also, the instrument isvery useful in determining the amount of a particular citrus fruit totill a standard crate of a particular size of fruit.

Although the preferred embodiment of the device has been described, itwill be understood that within the purview of this invention variouschanges may be Amade in the form, details, proportion and arrangement ofparts, the combination thereof and mode of operation, which generallystated consist in a device capable of carrying out the objects setforth, as disclosed and defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

l. In citrus measuring calipers for giving the number of a particularsize citrus fruit for filling a standard size crate comprising a supportmember having an aperture therethrough and a pair of slots on` eitherside of said aperture, a pair of caliper legs, one being pivotallymounted in said aperture and the other being slidably mounted in one ofsaid slots, and means on said caliper legs cooperating with said slotsfor releasably locking the legs in operative position.

2. In citrus measuring calipers for giving the number of a particularsize citrus fruit for filling a standard size crate comprising a supportmember having an aperture therethrough and a slot on each side of saidaperture, a caliper leg pivotally mounted in said aperture and a caliperleg slidably mounted in one of said slots, spring means for biasing saidcaliper legs against said support, `and means on one of said caliperlegs engaging both slots for releasably locking said leg in operativeposition.

3. In citrus measuring calipers for giving the number of a particularsize citrus fruit for illing a standard size crate comprising a supportmember having an aperture therethrough and a slot on each side of saidaperture, a caliper leg pivotally mounted in said aperture and a caliperleg slidably mounted in one of said slots, an inch scale on said supportmember, said slidable caliper leg being positioned on a measureddistance on said inch scale, and another scale on said supportcooperatively associated with said inch scale for giving the number of afruit corresponding to the measured distance on said inch scale, andmeans on one of said caliper legs engaging both slots for releasablylocking said leg in operative position.

4. Citrus measuring calipers having a support member having alongitudinal slot and a short slot in one end thereof, said supportmember being provided with a pair of legs mounted on one side thereof,one of the legs of said calipers being pivotally mounted between saidslots, the other of said legs being slidably and pivotally mounted inthe longitudinal slot, spring means positioned on the other side of saidsupport member from said legs and exerting a tension force on said legsso as to retain the legs in contiguous relationship with the Supportmember, said legs having protuberances the protuberances of one of thelegs positioning themselves in both slots when the leg is perpendicularto the support member, the protuberances of the other leg positioningthemselves in the longitudinal slot when this leg is perpendicular tothe support member. Y

5. In fruit measuring calipers, the combination of a support memberhaving a plurality of scales thereon for use in measuring sizes ofvarious kinds of fruit, there being one scale for each kind of fruitsuch as oranges,

' grapefruit, et cetera, each of said scales being adapted to determinethe size of a particular fruit as measured on the scale corresponding tothe particular kind of fruit measured, said support member having anaperture therethrough and a pair of slots on either side of saidaperture, a pair of legs, one being pivotally mounted in said apertureand the other being slidably mounted in one of said slots, and means onsaid legs of said calipers cooperating with said slots for releasablylocking the legs in operative position.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS721,271 Adler Feb. 14, 1903 1,226,172 Benjamin May 15, 1915 1,814,401Morrell July 14, 1931 2,668,359 4Litchfield Feb. 9, 1954

